Good and Evil in Indian Buddhism: The five Sins of Immediate Retribution

Indian Buddhist sources speak of five sins of immediate retribution: murder of mother, father, an arhat, drawing the blood of a buddha, and creating a schism in the monastic community. This category provides the paradigm for sinfulness in Buddhism. Yet even these sins can and will, be expiated in the long run, demonstrating the overwhelmingly positive nature of Buddhist ethics     

The use of oral data on life and thought in independent Latvia: A proposal for research

This article provides both historical and ethnographic views of Eastern religion in Lithuania. The historical component is an examination of the evolution of Lithuanian interest in Eastern religions from nineteenth-century studies of Indo-European comparative linguistics and mythology, which linked pre-Christian Lithuanian religion with India and Hinduism, to increasing literary, scholarly and popular interest in India and Asia in the twentieth century, before, during and after Soviet occupation. The ethnographic aspect utilizes fieldwork and interviews to examine three Eastern-inspired religious movements, (Pagan) Romuva, (Hindu) Krishna Consciousness, and (Buddhist) Diamond Way, demonstrating three different adaptations of Eastern religion in Lithuania.     

东北亚文明的创造性起源与发展性保存——以中国和韩国的宗教思想和礼仪为中心(上)

中国将自身的固有思想和印度思想融合后,产生了禅宗和新儒学两种创造性的宗教思想。韩国狂热地接受了这两种思想。不过有趣的是,这两种思想的痕迹在中国人的日常生活中已经难觅踪迹,而在韩国人的日常生活中却能够轻易找到。可以说在理论和实践方面依然保存着这两种思想的国家大概在全世界也只有韩国了。例如,现在韩国的僧侣还在沿用中国唐朝时僧侣背诵的礼法文,普通韩国人举行婚礼、葬礼和祭祀时依然遵循中国的朱子家礼。与此形成对照的是,现在在中国人身上已经很难找到这些旧习俗的痕迹了。     

希解派至五台山之考述

希解派是藏传佛教宗派之一,五台山居于中国佛教四大名山之首,并且是内地现存的唯一一处汉、藏两系并存的佛教圣地。本文试图考述希解派在五台山的活动情况,以说明该派在五台山一带讲经传道过程以及对这一带的影响。     

试论姚合的佛道信仰及其对思想创作的影响

唐代佛道两教盛极一时,士大夫均深受影响,姚合生逢其时,自不例外,佛道两教给姚合的　思想创作均打上了深深的烙印。其所接受的佛道思想主要是消极的一面,因而　产生的影响也主要以追求闲静、避世为主。     

贵州佛道儒巫混杂的宗教文化现象因果论

本文根据贵州佛教发展的历史,对明清以来在贵州形成的极具本土特色的佛道儒巫混杂合流的宗教文化现象,从原因和结果两个方面进行了论析。     

三大语系佛教的比较

三大语系(汉语、藏语、巴利语)佛教皆源于印度佛教而各有分异,不但教义、教律、佛理上有差别,更重要的是形成的社会基础和文化背景不同,文化风貌迥异。     

中国大陆佛教女性研究述评

本文回顾了中国佛教女性研究的缘起和发展,并从佛教的女性观、佛教女性主体两个方面,对该领域国内的研究现状进行了归纳和评述。     

唐诗中的佛教文化

唐代是我国佛教发展的鼎盛时期,作为唐代文化组成部分的佛教文化,不仅影响到当时社会各个阶层人们的日常生活,而且作为重要题材,进入了唐诗。其中,佛教建筑和梵宇静境、佛教音乐、佛教壁画等内容在唐诗中均有突出的反映。     

Reburying the treasure—maintaining the continuity: Two texts by Śākya Mchog Ldan on the Buddha-essence

The rich and interconnected universe of ?ākya Mchog Ldan’s views, including those on the buddha-essence, cannot be limited to or summarized in a few neat categories. Nevertheless, the following two interrelated ideas are crucial for understanding ?ākya Mchog Ldan’s interpretation of the buddha-essence: 1) only Mahāyāna āryas (’phags pa) have the buddha-essence characterized by the purity from adventitious stains (glo bur rnam dag); 2) the buddha-essence is inseparable from the positive qualities (yon tan, gu?a) of a buddha; In his writings, ?ākya Mchog Ldan argues against identifying the buddha-essence as a mere natural purity (rang bzhin rnam dag), i.e., the state of natural freedom from obscurations as it is taught in the Middle or Second Wheel of Doctrine (chos ’khor, dharmacakra) and its commentaries. The buddha-essence has to be posited as inseparability from positive qualities of a buddha. ?ākya Mchog Ldan approaches the buddha-essence inseparable from positive qualities of a buddha in two ways. In some texts, such as the Essence of Sūtras and Tantras, he argues that it has to be identified only as purity from adventitious stains, i.e., the removal of all or some negative qualities that prevent one from directly seeing the buddha-essence. In other texts, such as The Sun Unseen Before, he interprets it as the purity from adventitious stains and the natural purity as it is taught in some sūtras of the Third Wheel of Doctrine and their commentaries. That type of natural purity is understood as the state of natural freedom from all obscurations inseparable from positive qualities of a buddha. Thereby, in this second type of texts, ?ākya Mchog Ldan arrives at positing two types of the buddha-essence: relative (kun rdzob, sa?v?ti) and ultimate (don dam, paramārtha). Despite different interpretations of the natural purity, the identification of the buddha-essence as the purity from adventitious stains is present in both. In his interpretation of the buddha-essence, ?ākya Mchog Ldan utilizes the categories of the three levels found in the Sublime Continuum: the impure (ma dag, a?uddha), impure-pure (ma dag dag pa, a?uddha?uddha, i.e. partially pure) and very pure (shin tu rnam dag, suvi?uddha) levels that correspond respectively to the categories of sentient beings, bodhisattvas (understood as ārya bodhisattvas in this context), and tathāgatas. ?ākya Mchog Ldan argues that one becomes a possessor of the buddha-essence free from adventitious stains only on the impure-pure level. In other words, when bodhisattvas enter the Mahāyāna Path of Seeing (mthong lam, dar?anamārga) simultaneously with the attainment of the first boddhisattva ground (byang chub sems pa’i sa, bodhisattavabhūmi)of Utmost Joy (rab tu dga’ ba, pramuditā), they become āryas, i.e. ‘exalted’ or ‘superior’, bodhisattvas, directly realize the ultimate truth (don dam bden pa, paramārthasatya), and thereby for the first time generate an antidote to obscurations of knowables (shes bya’i sgrib pa, jñeyāvara?a). They start gradually removing them, and thereby actually see at least a partial purification of stains ‘covering’ the buddha-essence, and its inseparability from at least some positive qualities. Such is not possible for anyone below that level, even for the non-Mahāyāna arhats (i.e., ?rāvakas and pratyekabuddhas). Thus, only Mahāyāna āryas have the buddha-essence characterized by the purity from adventitious stains; ārya bodhisattvas have only a part of it, while buddhas have it completely.